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Officials: Suspects 'boxed in' car on US 60 before shooting driver in Mesa

Posted at 12:54 PM, Jul 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-14 15:54:59-04

Police arrested three people in connection with a drive-by shooting as cars were moving on US 60 near Sossaman Road.

Court records show that three people were involved in a shooting as they drove on the US 60 near Sossaman in Mesa on June 12.

Mesa police report that the victim was traveling Eastbound on US 60 near Sossaman, when two vehicles approached on both sides of his car. One car, police say, was driven by 20-year-old Chevy Jacob Hernandez and the other by 30-year-old Regis Anthony Chiago. 

Police say Hernandez got into an altercation with the victim on one side, while Chiago fired several shots into the car from the other side. The victim was struck in the head, shoulder and left arm.

In a phone conversation with ABC15, the victim said his Jeep was riddled with bullets and the bullet that struck him in the head will remain there the rest of his life. He said after being shot he managed to get his car across three lanes of traffic before calling for help.  

Witnesses were able to get a license plate number on one of the cars and a description of the shooter.

Police traced the car to a home near 16th Avenue and Van Buren Road where Chiago lives with his girlfriend Jazzmyne Guzman. Detectives reportedly found loaded and unsecured weapons including a shotgun and 9MM handgun under the bed of Guzman's daughter. It was later determined, that it was Guzman who hid the weapons there.

Chiago's fingerprints were on the handgun. Chiago, who works as a part of the grounds crew at Salt River Fields, is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Police say they also checked Chiago's phone records which reportedly showed him in the area of the shooting when it happened. Detectives also found a video on his phone which allegedly showed Chiago firing a handgun from his moving car in the north Phoenix area. This drive by shooting went unreported.

Chiago and Hernandez contacted another man and got him to go to Mesa police and provide them with a false story, saying he was responsible for the shooting.

All three suspects were arrested on July 6.

Guzman was arrested at her home near 16th Avenue and Van Buren Road and has been charged with child abuse, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.

Hernandez was arrested that afternoon near 17th and Broadway avenues and has been charged with hindering prosecution.

Chiago was also arrested near 19th and Southern avenues and has been charged with attempted first degree murder, aggravated assault, drive by shooting and obstructing a criminal investigation.